The MCC Brooklands High Speed Trials
As our birthday month continues and we move closer to the 19th November (official birth date) we look back at one of our alternative events…
In 1925 the MCC held its first High-Speed Trial at Brooklands Track but used the Brooklands outer-circuit. They lapped in an anti-clockwise direction, as at an ordinary race meeting, starting and finishing the one hour stint at the Fork.
Set speeds had to be attained to win various awards, so it was not necessary to drive the car to the limit and having the fastest car didn’t assure you a win or an award. To provide additional interest short races were held as well as the speed trials. These were essentially for road-equipped cars, sports models or otherwise. The event was also open to motorcycles of any engine capacity. So on the 17th October, in the late open sunshine the intrepid trialists set off, the distance that had been set by the club was 37 laps, equal to 102.37 miles.
To obtain a top award the average speeds for the three classes were approximately 37,40,and 45mph, respectively, for cars of up to 1100cc, 1500cc, and over. Sixty entries were received and the cars were scrutinised by 2pm and only Hiliary’s Frazer Nash was disallowed, due to a non-specified silencing system. With three non-starters, 56 cars took the massed start from the fork.
The MCC a club that is nearly as old as the sport itself, after the war decided to revive its Members’ meeting but, Brooklands being no more, had corners forced on it, at Silverstone. That rain varying from a Scotch mist to a downpour fell almost all the time on September 9th wasn’t ” Jackie ” Masters’ fault.
Everyone enjoyed themselves enormously in spite of the damp and a rather surprising keenness under the circumstances was displayed by the spectators-one young lady, in particular, was noticed at Copse corner during the first High Speed Trial and before the. Next event she had walked to Stowe corner, a distance of over a mile, where she spectated for the remainder of the day, holding an umbrella up almost the entire time. Is your girl-friend as keen ?
In the first One-Hour run, in which competitors had to beat the Club’s speed schedules rather than themselves, but seemed to prefer to do the latter, eighteen cars were entered, divided into six classes.
In an event of this sort the first few laps are crowded with incidents, the remainder of the time devoted to driving on what appears almost a deserted track. Mrs. Stapleton’s ” Spa ” Aston-Martin boiled on the line and Buckler got away briskly in company with C. F. Crossby’s blown Vauxhall-Special for some laps. Mrs. Willis was motoring well and to some purpose in the neat BMW.
The motor-cycle One-Hour run followed, many riders footing at the bends on Silverstone’s decidedly slippery surface. Hunting’s Super Sports Morgan looked tail-heavy, but was appreciably faster than Harris’ Vincent H.R.D. with airship sidecar, and Praill contrived not to drop his very Yankee Harley-Davidson; in spite of changing down on the apex of Stowe corner. Fastest time was made by G. P. Douglass’ 998-c.c. Vincent HR.D., at 60.21 m.p.h., with a lap at, 62.13 m.p.h., a fine show, in the rain.
